This is a beautifully polished Gurley Single Vernier Surveyor's Transit that was made circa the early 1870s.

The transit is unmarked - no identifying information regarding ownership. The box however indicates Railroad ownership, almost certainly the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railway (CStPM&O). The box label indicates that the last 2 initials are "M. & O." with some connection to St Paul. The CStPM&O railroad checks all the boxes.

You can read the Wikipedia write-up on the CStPM&O here: Wikipedia

Photographing a polished instrument is tough, and I don't think my pictures do the transit justice. The transit is highly polished and fantastic to look at. The box is very cool as well, and along with the transit would make for a great display.

While some collectors prefer instruments that are not polished or finished bright, it is worth noting that in the early 1870s Gurley shipped transits with a bright finish unless the customer specified a bronze finish instead. (I have attached three pages from Gurley's 1873 Manual below relevant to the transit offered here).

Everything works on this transit (except one of the crosshairs is missing), and everything I have for the transit is included in the pics.

Please see my Gurley Maker Webpage for more information about Gurley Instruments.

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